PS3 Review: NCAA Football 10

July 30, 2009Written by Joseph Peterson

Another improved game mode that will feel similar to previous iterations of the title is the Road To Glory mode. In this mode, Erin Andrews will follow the player through his high school playoff career, all the way through his senior season. During this time, there will be many segments featuring various videos and photos of the “player” from that week’s performance. Surprisingly, these segments actually adapt to how your player performed, whether that performance was bad or good. Another familiar face from ESPN also delivers the current details on the player’s Road To Glory athlete, and that is Kirk Herbstreit. As usual, once the player completes their Junior year they have the option of declaring for the NFL Draft or staying for their senior season. Of course, this will give them an opportunity to continue that career in Madden NFL 10 once it releases in August. The same thing can occur after the Senior year; it is all up the player.

Season Showdown is another new feature within this year’s title. It uses the player’s favorite team, and the various points that they accumulate over time are added together with other gamers’ points that have been accumulated with that particular team as well. At the end of the season, the “group” that has accumulated the most points will be considered the champion, essentially proving that particular school is the best and giving massive bragging rights. The player can earn points for their favorite teams with offline games, online games, and even trivia challenges. The possibilities are pretty much endless. The player is constantly being evaluated based upon decisions and actions taken. Players can even have points held from them if they choose to take the “cheap” way out of a match by quitting early.

Overall, the controls of NCAA Football 10 title will feel familiar to fans of the series, with a few minor adjustments to improve the game. The players seem to handle better when under the player’s control, and it is actually more of a challenge to go head to head with the computer, and this is due to the adjustments that the A.I. makes to the player’s decisions, as mentioned above. The runners run better, and the defense control better. Defense actually flocks to the ball carrier, and can feature more than just the previous two teammates involved in gang tackles. Also, when trying to break tackles with a ball carrier, essentially any tackle can be broken at any point with the correct action taken by the player. Graphically it is slightly better than the ’09 version, though the environments received the most improvement. The textures of the fields are phenomenal, and the stadiums are as accurate as ever. While a lot of these improvements mentioned may seem small, they all add up to making this game a better experience that make this one of the most complete football experiences on a console to date.

Another new feature that many fans have been asking for over the years has also been implemented this year, and that feature is TeamBuilder. It brings a fully customizable team to the player. This includes the ability to make everything from the team logo to roster and uniform customizations. The possibilities are literally endless. Though there is definitely room for improvement upon the feature. EA knows this and has stated that it is still in Beta form. The teams are made online at teambuilder.easports.com, and are saved to a set number of slots given to a user. If the slots are all full, then the user will have to delete a team to make a new one. And yes, for the fans of NCAA Football there is a PSLS team, but it is still being worked on. It is under my username, BigPete7978.